Verbs of perception

Question

Hello sir, detailed post please help 3 questions

1. Is it correct to use Possessives with verbs of perception? Ie. If Possessives are not used would it represent gerund or participle- adjective?

Eg. I saw him singing (participle as adjective defining him who is singing or singing as gerund ie. defining the process of singing)Or both, just the way we look at it

Should I say i saw his singing?

i saw jim riding bike(gerund as object complement), read in article even though it should be (participle as object complement) thus this query.

Normally use of possessives is must to convey the meaning of a noun? 2. Why using ing (in case of verbs of perception) with perfect tense sound incorrect but with past tense it sound correct, even though in both cases the action is complete? 3. We use bare infinitives with modal verbs/do.

eg. i should complete this. Query Infinitive (here complete) represents a main verb not a noun/adjective (isn't infinitive supposed to act as noun /adjective) only?

Thanks you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

anonymousI saw him singing.

Correct. This comes under the heading of "catenative verbs". These are verbs that can be followed by another verb form.

"see" and "hear" are the catenative verbs of perception that are used most. They take either the plain form or the -ing form.

We saw him [leave / leaving] the restaurant.
They heard him [play / playing] the guitar.

In these catenative constructions, depending on the verb, sometimes the second verb follows the first directly:

Louise helped write the bylaws of the local wine-tasting society.
I recommend buying a smart phone at Great Electronics Company.

In other catenative constructions, the first and second verb are separated by a noun phrase (NP).

The shopkeeper caught [the man]_NP stealing beer.

When the intervening NP is a pronoun, it's in the object case, not in the possessive case. (me, him, us, them; not my, his, our, their)

Use Google to explore "catenative verbs".

anonymous2. Why using ing (in case of verbs of perception) with perfect tense sound incorrect but with past tense it sound correct, even though in both cases the action is complete?

Example sentences are needed.

anonymous3. We use bare infinitives with modal verbs and with do, e.g., I should complete this.

Correct.

anonymousQuery: Does the infinitive (here complete) represent a main verb (not a noun or adjective)?

Yes. Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs. The main verb (the lexical verb) is always the last verb in a verb phrase. (will have seen, have been known, does enjoy, should complete, etc.)

anonymousIsn't an infinitive supposed to act as a noun or adjective?

No. An infinitive is a verb form. It can be used as a complement in a sentence (as a noun can do) or as a modifier (as an adjective can do), but it's not actually a noun or an adjective.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you so much for such detailed explanation.

"So infinitive means any action /verb that does not carry a tense" which can be used as object, subject in place of a noun or as main verb of the sentence" correct?

And with verbs of perception gerund(noun), participle (adjective), bare infinitive (working as adjective modifier) are possible but with let, do, make etc only infinitive is possible (which would work as object complement not as noun) correct?

Verbs of perception

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